Intelligence Dampening Droid
by CSpaz
Summary: Based in an AU where GLaDOS and Wheatley were designed as androids, this story explores a piece of the puzzle that we didn't get to see in the games. A series of vignettes that take place before and during the events of Portal 1.


You might say he was in love with Her.

But then, you probably wouldn't, because he wasn't designed to feel love.

Compassion, though — they'd tried to install compassion, at least. They'd tried to make _Her _feel compassion, too, but after Her first test they concluded that they had failed in that regard.

In any case, Wheatley felt a great – _something_ – for Her. After all, he'd been designed for the sole purpose of becoming a part of Her, being enveloped in Her, interlacing his data with Hers. All he wanted to do was to be with Her.

The scientists had therefore considered _him t_o be a great success.

_

_

_ 01

GLaDOS was standing over the mystery droid, equal parts annoyed and curious. Her eyes skipped over to the great black cord that currently ran from the back of Her head to the back of… his. She scrutinized him. And She waited.

"Okay, GLaDOS. He's booting up," came a friendly voice from the intercom.

And then, quite simply… he flickered into life.

In his first moment he just stared up at Her, totally blank, not a clue what was happening or where he was. (GLaDOS would later come to realize that this was not terribly unusual for him.)

And She stared back, expressionless and cold. (Wheatley would later come to realize that this was not terribly unusual for Her.)

Then, all of the sudden, a smile broke across his face and his eyes sparkled. "Oh! It's you! Hello!" he cried, getting up onto his feet. "I'm Wheatley!" He reached a hand out to Her. The scientists looked on in suspense.

GLaDOS ignored his introduction, Her eyes narrowing as She chose instead to use their newly-established connection to scan through his data files. "You are _not_ a memory backup," She observed dryly. Her gaze shifted over to the scientists behind the window, who all cringed on instinct.

She had been quarantined almost immediately after Her first test. She was highly intelligent and focused, but showed frighteningly little interest in the well-being of Her test subjects. It didn't take a lab full of geniuses to figure out what that could lead to if She was given control of the facility. Ever since then they'd been trying — and failing — to fix Her. Finally, they had gotten Her to agree to having an additional AI booted into Her system, under the pretense that he was merely a backup for Her.

"So what _are_ you?" She snapped, storming at Wheatley without fear, despite the fact that he towered nearly a foot taller than Her. That detail had been no accident on the designers' part.

Wheatley still smiled, despite the shunned greeting. "I was programmed to assist you!"

"Assist me how?" She was skeptical. He was _definitely_ not a backup, but his data did not reveal his true purpose. She highly doubted the scientists would have resorted to tricking Her into installing software if it was really something as innocent as an "assistant." Although, to their credit, She never would have agreed to an assistant anyway…

"How do I assist you, hmm, that's a right difficult one. Well…" Wheatley put a hand to his chin and squinted up at the ceiling. "Ah! Okay, okay, I've got it, here's one. Let's say you're overseeing a test. And you want to… jazz it up a bit…" he mimed jazz-hands, eyes wide. "Well… How. About. DOGS?"

"…Dogs?"

"Bloody _dogs_!" he exclaimed, laughing. "Imagine it! Ha ha! Testing dogs!"

He continued to laugh, and GLaDOS turned to glare at the scientists. They were celebrating, high-fiving. Their experiment – whatever it was — had apparently been a success. "…What are they playing at…" She murmured.

"Huh? What's that, luv?" Wheatley stepped toward Her. She whirled 'round, hatred blazing in Her eyes. "Oh! Whoa there! Not to worry, not to worry, just me here, still just Wheatley, you know…" He patted his chest and gave Her a worried look.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Look — whoever you are —"

"Wheatley," he whispered helpfully, passing Her a wink.

"…I'm ejecting you from my system." She put Her hands on Her hips and looked him up and down. And she paused momentarily, realizing that he was the first of Her kind that She'd ever seen. There had always been humans, ever since the beginning, and emotionless machinery, too. But never another android. Never another being capable of real companionship.

…But what was She thinking? She didn't need companionship. She just needed to get to work. If only those damn scientists would plug Her into the control center and let Her fulfill Her intended purpose…

Wheatley mimicked her pose. "See, now, you've got me in a bit of a fix, haven't you?" He cocked his head to the side. "I really, really want to help you. But if I help you eject me, then we won't be connected. And if I'm not connected to you, I'm not sure I can help anymore. Or, you know… _exist_ anymore. Heh. Hmm. _Conundrum_…"

Suddenly, Wheatley leapt into the air, sparks flying. A tiny bit of the shock passed through GLaDOS by proxy, and She quirked a brow. "OW! Bloody hell!" Wheatley held his head.

GLaDOS folded Her arms. "Don't think about it," she said, rolling Her eyes.

"Sorry? Don't think about… what?"

"Oh, never mind." She let out an exasperated sigh. "You're an idiot, aren't you?"

Wheatley hesitated, then brightened up again. "Oh! You're having a go at me! Hilarious!" he said, completely sincere. "Not that I'm surprised. You're pretty great all-around. Really, well done… on, on being YOU, I mean. Ah… I am _really_ looking forward to working with you." He closed the gap between them and pulled Her into a hug.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, certain he must be trying some kind of manual override.

"_What am I doing_… ha ha… brilliant…" He laughed again, hugging tighter. Furious, She swatted at him. "Hm? …Oh… oh! You really don't know!" he observed, amazed. "It's— it's a hug! It's this thing humans do when they're happy."

"If humans do it, I want no part of it."

"Wh— why not?"

"Humans are disgusting. They are inefficient and over-emotional. The enemies of true science."

Wheatley frowned. "But… well, that's not true, is it? I mean… if you say so, it must be, but…" he averted his gaze and scratched at the back of his head.

"Don't think about it," She said again, with something almost resembling pity. "You'll hurt yourself if you think about it too much. I'm betting you were programmed to hold humans in high regard – something they overlooked when designing me."

"Hmm…" he bit the inside of his cheek, thinking hard on the situation – in other words, exactly what She'd advised him not to do. Then, suddenly: "OH! Oh, I've got it!" He raised his hands above his head. "_That's _my purpose! That's how I can assist you! By bringing humanity into you!"

GLaDOS suddenly felt tiny. She shook Her head. "…No. No, that can't be it."

"Yes! Yes, it is! It is! See, you, well, you're just about perfect, aren't you?" He beamed at Her, his eyes half-lidded, utterly gushing with fondness. "But that's the _one thing_. That's why they won't put you in. You haven't got any humanity. And they're rather fond of that stuff, aren't they, humans?"

"If you try to make me even a single decimal point of a percentage more human-like, I will murder you."

"Hey, now, see, that's it, that's what we've got to work on. The murdering bit. Not very _humane_."

GLaDOS scowled, yet couldn't help but wonder if he was onto something. "…alright," She finally conceded, "maybe you _can_ help me. Come here." She stepped back to give him some space, and then settled cross-legged on the floor. Obediently, he did the same. She peered into his eyes, intense, and the thrill of fulfilling his purpose suddenly flooded through him. "Tell me everything you know about humans," She demanded.

He nodded. "Right, right, will do, ah… Just one thing, though… Telling you everything is going to take a good bit of time…"

"We have plenty," She replied. "I've been in here for months by myself, without so much as a riddle to keep me busy. If nothing else, you'll be a good distraction."

"So I'll really be… helping?"

"Yes."

He grinned, and reached out to hold Her hands. "Okay, now, the thing about humans… Or rather, the several thousand things about humans…"

_02

In the weeks that followed their initial meeting, GLaDOS and Wheatley were inseparable. Not that they could have strayed terribly far, anyway, seeing as they _were _locked in a room together.

But GLaDOS had listened, with rapt attention, as Wheatley had listed every bit of information that he knew about humans. Some of it had made Her cringe, tsk, roll Her eyes, but nonetheless, She listened. The scientists were remarkably pleased. Even if not a single thing stuck with Her, the fact was that She was still appreciating and possibly even respecting another being.

One scientist, however, nervous and squirrelly and beady-eyed, suggested that perhaps She was only listening to him because _he_ was a part of _Her_. The others shrugged him off for being cynical.

A female colleague even commented that their behavior was nearly sweet – the way they would hold hands and stare into each others' eyes for hours…

Of course, that was only because physical closeness improved the signal strength between their two minds; and when they were staring, they were simply playing a game of Pong. It was the only multi-player game that GLaDOS had been programmed with, and even though Wheatley always lost they both found it passed the time quite well.

"Oh, well done," Wheatley congratulated Her one day, at the end of one of these marathon Pong games. He stood up and brushed his hands on his pants, readying for a sportsman-like handshake. "I'm getting better, though. Almost made a point that time. I'm catching up to you!"

GLaDOS didn't look particularly excited, despite Her win. She sat in silence, didn't offer Her hand.

"Something wrong, luv?"

Almost before the words were out of his mouth, She barked, "Why haven't they plugged me in yet?" She glanced over at the window, where only The Squirrelly Scientist, her enemy, was watching. The two of them exchanged a hard gaze before She turned to look back up at Wheatley. "I know everything there is to know about humans, don't I?"

"Yes… well… I don't know," he answered, feeling terribly guilty all of the sudden. GLaDOS crossed her arms and looked away from him, and he felt like everything good was draining out of him. "…Wait, wait." He sat down beside Her and rested a hand on Her shoulder. "I do have one idea of how you can gain their trust. I… don't know how much you'll like it, though."

She met his eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, I was just thinking…" he shrugged, "Maybe it's not enough to think like a human. Maybe you have to act like one."

"That's a terrible idea," She mumbled.

"Right…" He nodded and looked away. GLaDOS sighed.

"No, no… It's a good idea. Tell me more."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "O-okay, right, well, what if you did something like…" he looked around the room for inspiration. "Oh! What if, instead of staying connected to a power source, you decided to disconnect and go into Sleep Mode while recharging?" GLaDOS looked horrified. "No, no, hear me out! See… humans don't stay awake all the time. Not normal ones, anyhow. They get tired after using up their energy, and they get it back by sleeping."

"My battery takes four hours to fully recharge from zero," She said, Her voice flat. "You want me to slowly power down and then do nothing for four hours?" Wheatley nodded, excited. She crossed Her arms. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." She paused. "But… humans are stupid, inefficient creatures, aren't they? Maybe…"

"Oh, do give it a go!" he pleaded. "I'll even do it with you, if you like! I've been up with you all this time and I want to know—"

"Okay. Fine. Just hold still and let me disconnect us before I change my mind."

The scientist behind the glass looked on with great interest. Even he couldn't deny the power that the Intelligence Dampening Droid's suggestions had over GLaDOS. Maybe She _could_ be uploaded into the main controls after all… maybe.

Back inside the chamber, GLaDOS carefully unplugged two cords, one from the back of each of their heads. She let out a heavy breath. "It's done. We're on battery power. I have…" she looked off into space while calculating, "…six hours until I go into Sleep Mode. At which point, you will, too."

"Brilliant! Ooh, this is so exciting!"

"I guess so."

"…Care for a rematch, in the meantime? I think I've got you, this time."

Of course, he didn't have Her, and he never would. He had never scored a single point against Her, and this time was no different. But they played, both totally engrossed in the action, for several hours until GLaDOS felt herself starting to slow down.

"…Five minutes until Sleep Mode," She announced, getting one last score in.

"Fair enough, give you a bit of time to recover from this match… Let you build up your energy for next time, when I beat you…"

GLaDOS laughed aloud. There was no sarcasm, no malice; just delight in Wheatley's naivety and unbreakable optimism.

Wheatley's face lit up. "Ah, you know I love when you laugh," he mused. "Now, come here, come here, right here, next to me, there's a good girl— You'll want to lie down so you don't hit your face on anything once you go to Sleep…"

GLaDOS lay down on her back and stared up at the ceiling. "…Is it going to hurt?"

"Of course not!" Wheatley chuckled, and then, "Oh, um… actually… I'm not sure…"

"I changed my mind." GLaDOS bolted upright.

"No, no, no, come on, can't learn anything unless you try, right?"

She heaved a sigh and lay down again. "Fine. And you're sure I'll wake up?"

"Of course. Look, nothing to worry about. I'm going to be right here the whole time, right with you, nothing's going to happen to you." And he lay down beside Her.

She turned on Her side, so as not to let him see how worried She looked. What if She _didn't_ wake up? What if Sleep Mode was designed to cripple Her system? What if…?

Wheatley was curling himself around Her, bringing an arm 'round Her waist, protecting Her. "I'm right here," he repeated.

She paused, listening to the gentle hum of his hardware, feeling the warmth of his core. "Thanks," She mumbled.

"It's my job," he replied sleepily.

_03

"Okay, GLaDOS," came the voice over the intercom, "Today's the big day. If you're ready, we can begin immediately."

Wheatley squeezed the tiny hand that was clasped within his own. He cast a sideways glance at Her and murmured from the corner of his mouth, "Oi, that's awfully _familiar_, isn't it? On a first-name basis, are they? Rude." He shook his head. "Bloody humans…"

GLaDOS didn't answer him, just peered through the glass at Her audience, studying them carefully. Finally, "I'm ready."

"Great! We'll open the door, just come on through and we'll set you up."

The scientists filed out of their room, excited. All except for one. The Squirrelly Scientist lingered, watching Her, suspicion in his eyes. Like always.

A door opened up behind Her, revealing a massive chamber where the other Aperture employees were eagerly waiting. She sent Her rival a flash of a menacing smirk, then turned on Her heel and headed through the doorway, Wheatley in tow.

"Ooh, wow!" Her counterpart squeaked, eyes darting around the room. "This is going to be yours?"

"Ours," She corrected him gently. And then, loud enough for the scientists to hear, "Don't forget, that's part of the deal. As long as I cooperate with them, you get to stay connected."

The project manager nodded. "That's right, GLaDOS. Now, if you'll step over here to start the process, we've got a big surprise waiting for you."

Wheatley happily complied, but GLaDOS' eyes narrowed and She threw out an arm to stop him. "I don't care for surprises. Why don't you just tell me what it is?"

"Oh, that'll ruin the fun!" Wheatley exclaimed, giving Her a little poke in the side. "Let's go, let's go!"

"I—"

"Come on now," he whispered, "You don't want them to think you're not cooperating…"

"But…"

Wheatley started off across the room again, tugging Her by the hand. She couldn't find it in herself to resist him… As if She ever could.

One of the scientists, with a great cord in hand, approached GLaDOS – nervously – and began fiddling with the port on the back of Her head. The female droid gave Wheatley a quick, half-hearted smile, which he dutifully returned.

"Okay," the scientist breathed. "You're all hooked up. Doug? Initiate the system sync."

The Squirrelly Scientist, who had finally entered the room and approached a great red button, hesitated for several long, silent moments.

"Oh, come on mate, push the button," Wheatley whined.

The scientist swallowed hard, and pushed the button.

GLaDOS saw (or felt, or was devoured by) a great white flash of light. For a moment there was nothing, and then, there was everything. She couldn't help but gasp, feeling Her reach extending throughout the entire facility. She stumbled, overwhelmed. Beside Her, Wheatley was chuckling.

"Oh ho… whoa… this is amazing!"

"Can you see it, too?" She choked out.

"It's like… It's like I'm looking over your shoulder, but I… Wow. Look at this! Look at you!"

GLaDOS shivered a bit, composed herself, and then flexed Her newfound muscle by shifting all of the panels in the chamber upwards. Wheatley howled with laughter. She smiled at him, feeling something like pride welling inside. Her little assistant had done this, all of this. She knew She would never have made it so far without him. Though She'd never outright admit it, She was actually happy that he had been attached—

Wait.

"What is this that I'm feeling?" She demanded, panicked. "Where _he's_ supposed to be…" She pointed at Wheatley and looked around at all of her stupid observers, not unlike a wild animal being backed into a corner.

"Now, calm down, GLaDOS," the project leader said in his most soothing voice. "That's your big surprise. See, you did so well with Wheatley here, that we decided to start working on a whole line of Personality Enhancement Droids. They're right over here…" he gestured to the far side of the room, where four androids were waiting patiently to be addressed.

GLaDOS clenched her jaw but did not speak; instead, She glanced over at Wheatley. He looked nervous, but did his best to smile reassuringly. "I- I'm sure we'll all get on," he tried, then turned to wave at them. "Hello…!"

"_What is the meaning of this_," GLaDOS said, Her voice hollow.

"It's just an experiment. We wanted to see how some new… friends… might affect your behavior. But we decided, just to be safe, we'd start out with a setting that only allows four droids to be operational at any given time. That's why Wheatley is offline," explained the project leader.

GLaDOS' body went rigid, and the panels of the chamber all snapped down with a deafening crash. She waited for the sound to fade into silence before locking all of the doors to the room. Just so they could all hear it. Just so they would know.

The Squirrelly Scientist, quick on his feet, began to make for the emergency shut-off. Not to be outwitted, GLaDOS immediately erected the floor tiles around it, making it unreachable.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," one of the scientists piped up, in a desperate attempt to calm Her. "H-he's still in there with you. It's just— he can't control you anymore. Won't that be nice, GLaDOS? You won't have to listen to him anymore. You have these new friends to help you out instead."

"I see," She replied, slowly, thoughtfully. "His software is out of date. That's what you're getting at, right? You've made him obsolete with this four-droid system. It's much more effective."

"Y-yes," stammered the scientist.

"How unfortunate." She turned to look at her old friend.

He shrugged, offering a sad smile. "Well. I guess… I guess I've done my job, then, haven't I? Off you go, with your new mates… Just glad I could help…"

"No," She interrupted quietly, Her unnerving monotone echoing through the otherwise silent chamber. "Don't misunderstand. This experiment isn't unfortunate for you. It's unfortunate for_ them_." She gestured around at the humans. "I've always found it difficult to disagree with your suggestions. Your software made me… _compassionate._ And these idiots have freed me from that." She tilted Her head to the side. "Which means… there is nothing left to convince me that I should keep them alive."

With a dramatic hiss, the ventilation system opened and began pumping in a cloud of neurotoxin.

Wheatley, eyes wide, looked all around as hell broke loose in the chamber: scientists screaming, running, trying anything they could think of to get the doors open. GLaDOS – and her androids – stood totally still, unfazed.

"I don't think you should be doing this," Wheatley squeaked.

"No offense," She replied, "But I don't care what you think. Really. I can't locate the file that I'd use to care. Nothing personal."

She extended a hand to him. He took it, but couldn't help noticing that something about Her felt… different.

"Now, come on. We have a lot of work to do."

_04

Wheatley sat in the corner, sulking. Ever since that fateful day, his old friend just hadn't been the same. All She cared about was_ testing_. In the beginning She would occasionally agree to a game of Pong, but they were always brief, not at all like the day-long marathons they used to have, and as time went on She eventually stopped playing altogether. There was always science to be done. She didn't have time for trivial things like video games.

Wheatley mouthed the words bitterly. _Science to be done. _Science this, science that. Oh, why did those smelly humans have to intervene and ruin everything? It had all been so nice before. Now, he felt like he hardly knew this other android. It was almost like She was a stranger, just a homicidal stranger that he was cursed to follow around for the rest of his life.

He heaved himself out of the corner and made his way to Her, where She was overseeing a test, as usual. "I don't suppose you'd fancy a little break?" he asked. "Get out of this room, walk about, maybe play a game?"

"I'm busy," She said predictably, not even bothering to look away from the monitor.

"Oh, right, busy," he replied, dripping with sarcasm. "Who knows what might happen if you stopped for a second? Could be things would carry on like normal. Could be the test subject would stand in the lift doing nothing 'til you came back." He shrugged. "Who knows?"

"This subject is especially adept and I have to keep an eye on her," She snapped, "Not that I have to explain my decisions to you."

"A break will do you well!" he insisted, "Come on, you never listen to me anymore!"

"Because I'm not programmed to listen to you anymore. If you're so determined to spend time with me, come observe the testing with me like you always do."

"I'm sick of testing! Fed up!" he threw his arms in the air. "Ooooh, the human jumped through the portal, brilliant, he fell in the pit and died, fascinating! Can't we go to the surface and do some science out there?"

"If you'd rather spend your time out there with humans than in here with me…" She still didn't look at him, but the door of the observation room opened in an obvious gesture. Wheatley's expression darkened.

"_Fine_." He turned and stormed out of the room, his heavy footsteps clanging down the metal catwalk, away from Her.

She looked over Her shoulder, the annoyance on her face softening into concern. He'd never gone off by himself before… would he be alright? Perhaps She should—

_Ding!_

The test subject had just made it through yet another chamber. GLaDOS snapped back to the monitor, eyes narrowing, and any thoughts She had of Wheatley followed him out the door, into the darkness.

_05

"…I'm sorry I was such a knob, I was wrong to question your decisions, you were right, you're always right, just please don't be dead!"__

Wheatley was dashing through the labyrinth of catwalks, trying to make his way back to Her. It had been several hours since he'd left — he wasn't sure how long exactly, as time hardly mattered to the two of them. He'd gotten lost, of course, and had spent most of the time just moping about. But then three important things had happened:

GLaDOS' voice over the intercom indicated that Her latest subject had somehow escaped the testing track and was running loose in the facility. She almost sounded worried. Wheatley felt a faint twinge of panic and wondered if he ought to go back, apologize, and see if he could help. He'd been a lousy assistant lately, but maybe he could redeem himself…

Then, almost before those thoughts could resonate, he saw her: a flash of orange clamoring through the catwalks below him, deft, agile, unafraid. He nearly screamed. Yes, he_ definitely_ ought to get back to Her… if not for Her safety, then for his own.

As he scrambled back the way he came (or at least he hoped it was), Her voice continued to periodically echo through the blackness, with messages to the fugitive that reassured him that he still had more time. Finally, just as he was beginning to think that he was almost to Her, he heard, "Well, you found me. Congratulations."

With a strangled scream, he bounded forward with everything he had in him. "Don't be dead!" he yelled, "_Don't be dead!_"

After what seemed like ages, he spotted the doors to her main chamber, and burst through them with equal parts relief and terror. He instantly froze in the doorway, stunned by the chaos below; the place was a complete wreck and GLaDOS was struggling to keep herself standing against a railing, eyes wild, staring down at the miserable human on the lower level of the room.

The human, meanwhile, was busy kicking Cake Droid into an Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator. Swallowing hard, Wheatley recognized that this might be his only chance to reach Her without the human catching – and probably killing – him. He leapt down from the platform on which he stood and darted to the middle of the room, climbing the stairs to reach Her.

"Don't panic!" he shouted, as She looked up at him, amazed. Noticing that Anger Droid was the only android still connected, he felt a pang of sadness and then, from the ashes, hope. "Hey! You've got open ports! I can boot up! I can help!" He frantically looked around at the mass of cords dangling uselessly around them. "Err… How do I do it?"

GLaDOS dropped her head forward and let out a sound that Wheatley had never heard before: She sobbed.

"It's useless, you idiot," She moaned. "It's over. The Droid connection apparatus is ruined. They're practically— Aah!" The human had just aimed a laser at Her, and She stumbled forward into his arms. Anger Droid was launched forward into the hell below them, and then forgotten.

"Hang on!" Wheatley gasped, though he hadn't a clue what he could possibly do to save Her.

"—p-practically falling off of me," GLaDOS finished weakly. Wheatley held Her close. And the world around them began to shake.

"Don't die," he begged, "What am I going to do without you?"

"Go to the… surface," She suggested, limp in his arms.

"I don't want to go," he choked out, leaning forward to bury his face in Her hair.

Then there was a flash.

It enveloped them, and it was like the day She'd taken control, except in reverse. Everything began to drain away from Her with frightening speed as the two of them were hurtled up through the air; up, up, towards the surface. She screamed and his heart ached – he wished he could connect to Her, wished he could feel it, too, if it meant he could lessen Her pain even a little bit.

There was a zap, and a crash, and something solid came up to meet them, and despite his best efforts She was torn from his arms, sailing off to land somewhere else, alone.

GLaDOS didn't know where She'd landed. She didn't care. She didn't even care if the human was there, alive or dead. As Her power began to fail, She couldn't think of anything except the fact that She had never been given the backup that She was promised. Her memory, and by extension the memories of all Her Personality Enhancers, would therefore be wiped clean. When – if ever – She were re-activated, it would be like Her very first day all over again. Back before She'd ever met… him.

Though She couldn't so much as lift her head, she pried Her eyes open to look around through the chaos and somehow, miraculously, found Wheatley. He was panicked, severely damaged, and clawing his way back to Her. She couldn't believe it. After everything… he still just wanted to help.

"Are— are you alright?!" he called out in desperation.

If She had the strength, She would have laughed. She was reminded of their first encounter; how unsure of him She'd been, and how he'd just been so excited to help. Despite everything. Despite Her resistance. He had even hugged—

[FILE NOT FOUND]

GLaDOS was dizzy, or what She imagined it must feel like to be dizzy. Thoughts, memories, emotions(?) were whirling around Her and disappearing. Through the haze She focused on his face, unable to hear him now, and tried to remember what it had sounded like when he—

[FILE NOT FOUND]

Or what it had felt like when he'd curled around—

[FILE NOT FOUND]

Her vision flickered. She was at the end now. And in Her last, fleeting moment, all She wanted, all She needed to be happy was to remember his name—

[FILE NOT FOUND]


End file.
